Christmas peace train rolls out from Islamabad

A Christmas-themed train on Thursday set out on a journey to criss-cross Pakistan in an effort to promote tolerance in the overwhelmingly Muslim country.

IMAGE: A policeman stands guard near the Christmas Peace train during a ceremony ahead of Christmas celebrations in Islamabad, Pakistan. Photograph: Faisal Mahmood/Reuters

The countrywide Christmas Peace Train will start its journey from Rawalpindi on Thursday and is scheduled to reach Karachi on December 31, 2016.

The train is adorned with Christmas lights and mock snowmen.

IMAGE: A woman takes a picture of her daughter with a man dressed as Santa Clause, inside a decorated car of Christmas Peace train. Photograph: Faisal Mahmood/Reuters

The aim of the train is to promote tolerance in the overwhelmingly Muslim country.

Christians make up an estimated 1.6 percent of Pakistan’s 200 million people and have long faced discrimination.

IMAGE: The train is aimed at promoting tolerance for Catholics -- a minority in the Muslim-dominated country. Photograph: @happylarka/Twitter

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